Ayade makes case for zoning, says ‘democracy is blind to fairness’

Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River state, says the type of democracy being practised in the country lacks equity and fairness.

Speaking on Sunday while addressing some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the governor’s lodge in Calabar, the state capital, Ayade said democracy does not create the balance that is needed for natural justice.

The governor said the principle of zoning should be entrenched in the nation’s political system.

“We inherited a brand of democracy which is not afrocentric, neither does it have the sensitivity of the African culture and morality,” Ayade said.

“Democracy is so primitively blind that it reduces itself to numbers. The higher your population, the more you win. So there is nothing like balancing, there is no equity in democracy.

“There is no moral conscience. Democracy is blind to ethnicity, it is blind to religion, it is blind to fairness, it is repugnant to natural justice.”

The governor reiterated his commitment to ensuring the zoning of the governorship ticket of the state to the southern senatorial district in 2023.

In December, while welcoming some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC, Ayade had said it was the turn of the southern senatorial district to produce the next governor of the state.

The governor said the governorship rotational principle had been in place in the state since 1999.

“It is against this background that I will keep to my words. 2023 is a harbinger of peace, equity and justice so that every one of us will have a sense of equity and sense of balance to maintain and sustain our politics,” Ayade had said.

“This will enable everybody to know his turn at every given time.”

Ayade said his decision to return power to the south was based on morality and that the south had credible people with the capacity to be governor.